by rossanahead | Mar 8, 2012 | career, children, Education, family, parenting, Rossana Llenado, woman
By Rossana L. Llenado
Today is very special as we celebrate International Women’s Month and the first year anniversary of Smart Super Women.
We started S, as we fondly call it, to serve as a forum for smart super ladies to inspire other equally bright and busy women.
We asked people we admire to share with us their stories.
We asked leaders to share with us the secret of their success. We asked them to trace their roots, to speak to us about their vision, and to share with us their triumphs and tribulations.
We asked parents to share with us how they raise their children. We asked them how they became so strong as they dealt with the challenges of modern parenting. Does your being strong benefit your children? Do you want your daughter to be as strong as you are? These are the questions that we asked of them, the answers of which they gladly gave us.
We asked single successful career women to share with us the choices that they had to make. We asked them to tell us about the joys of freedom and independence and about how they sometimes had to conquer the specter of loneliness.
We asked everybody to share with us the events of their daily lives. What gives them joy? What matters to them, what concerns them, what jolts them into feeling?
By asking these questions, these leaders, parents, and women showed off the brilliance that is their education. Indeed, in one story after another, we saw how a good education proved to be the final touch that spurred a person to excellence and achievement.
This we did for the last 365 days. They wrote. We posted. We shared.
Each essay is a celebration of one woman and of all women.
We hope to bring more inspiring essays in the coming years. And we invite all of you to share your story, so that there will be more Smart Super Women out there.
by rossanahead | Mar 8, 2012 | career, Education, family, woman
By Paige de Guzman
There’s a love and hate relationship between me and college. One minute I was loving it, then hating it the next. I love vacations. I love lazy days and happy mornings when I don’t have to wake up early to go to school. I love it when I don’t have to sit in the bus in the middle of traffic and end up late for class.
Nevertheless, I did my best. I woke up early, finished my assignments, studied my readings, and aced my classes. Sometimes, I would complain, but always, I tried to do my best. At the time, I always thought of what my parents told me: “It’s for your future.”
And oh, how right they were!
Of course, the realization did not come right away. When I graduated, I went job-hunting, taking tests and doing interviews. At first, it was frustrating. But because I knew exactly what I wanted, I did not lose hope. Today, I am working full time as a publishing specialist while doing part-time work as a writer.
But reaping the rewards of a good education does not stop with getting a good job. A good education reflects on the quality of your work. It shows on how you handle pressure. Aren’t exams, graded recitations, and project deadlines stressful? Well, I’ve realized that they’re almost the same—deadlines in school and deadlines at work. The difference is that you get paid with the latter. That’s when I tell myself, “Thank God, I did my best in school!”
A good education also reflects on how well you relate to people. It shapes into the kind of person that you are. Before college, I was a socially awkward girl who stammered a little bit in class. I suppose, all those graded recitation sessions fixed that.
I might have hated school at one time or another, but looking back, I’m glad I did my best. I know that I wouldn’t be here now if I hadn’t burned the midnight oil.
Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash
by rossanahead | Mar 8, 2012 | career, children, Education, family, Jing Lejano, parenting, technology, travel, woman
By Jing Lejano
When we started the Smart Super Women blog exactly one year ago, we never thought that we’d play witness to daredevil feats of adventures. We wanted to hear inspiring stories of mothers, daughters, sisters, warriors, peacemakers, intellects, vamps, homemakers, career rats, readers, adventurers, and dreamers who were going through their everyday lives. But we didn’t think that they’d do so with such daring and gumption.
Take the case of Mari-An Santos, a cum laude graduate of the University of the Philippines. We happily read about her trips to Thailand, when she suddenly revealed that she was packing her bags and moving to Romania! She had received a grant to pursue her Master’s degree in that European country. In her latest entry, she writes, “Studying in a foreign land has not only opened my eyes to the reality that I am a citizen of the world, it has made me appreciate my being Filipino all the more. Even as I learn about other peoples, cultures, and places, I have learned to value home even more.”
A collection of personal essays for and by women, the Smart Super Women blog was created to inspire its readers to tackle everyday challenges with courage and to work for the fulfillment of their dreams with conviction.
Most of the contributing writers are working mothers with school-aged children. They discuss such topics as careers and children, literacy and education, family and friends, and the quest for self-improvement. Because the writers contribute on a regular basis, readers have seen them tackle different challenges, resulting in a very interesting read.
There’s newspaper editor Gina Abuyuan, who never got around to traveling alone when she was single, but who finally had the nerve to roam the streets of Chiang Mai all by her lonesome now that she is “older, tougher, not afraid to tell someone off.” Her latest solo trip had her enjoying the sound of waves crashing at a beach side resort in the provinces. Oh, and may we add that she also recently opened a pub together with her life partner and some friends?
Of course, the adventures aren’t always of the adrenaline-pumping kind. Sometimes, we see these women finding epiphany in a cup of coffee shared with friends, in the few hours they sweat it out in the gym, or in the few minutes they spend with their children as they drive them to school.
But whether they’re raising their kids in the Philippines like writer Ruth Floresca, who’s a work-at-home mom to four boys, or juggling their time between career and home in Australia like editor Lyra Pore, who gets up at five in the morning to bring her daughters to the day care center, these women always find creative ways to make every opportunity a learning experience.
Ruth goes on date nights with her sons as a way of catching up with what’s going on in their lives. She writes, “It’s a continuous process, this getting to know one’s children because they grow up so fast and I don’t want to wake up one morning to find out that I don’t know anything about them anymore.”
Lyra Pore Villafana takes swimming lessons as a way of relaxing from the challenges of living an immigrant’s life. “Life overseas is so different to what we’ve all been used to… But doing something for oneself isn’t unique to Asian moms coping with the stresses of building a new life in a different country.”
Maridol Bismark bombards her sons with questions to learn her way in the digital world. She writes, “I work for an online entertainment portal. Every day, I am exposed to words and phrases that are just starting to make sense to me…I feel like a child lost in a newfangled world, groping for a hand to guide me. Fortunately, the hand belongs to the boy who appreciates everything that I’ve done and will still do for him.”
As these women continue on their journey to live, love, and learn in the modern age, Smart Super Women will be right alongside them, watching their every step, hoping to inspire others to live as fearlessly and as brilliantly as they do.
by rossanahead | Feb 23, 2012 | family, woman
By Jane Santos-Guinto
Three years ago today, I became Mrs. Jonathan Guinto.
We had the ceremony at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Tagaytay. Father Vic Sadaya of the Claretian Missionaries traveled all the way from Quezon City to bless our vows. Father Vic’s sermons have inspired me since high school, when I vowed that he’d be the priest to officiate my wedding someday.
It was two in the afternoon on the twenty-second day of the second month of the year 2009, a date half-planned, half-serendipitous. I walked down the church’s long aisle smiling at the guests who had come to share the day with us, wondering why quite a number of them were teary-eyed, unaware that my groom had been crying as his parents walked with him towards the altar. “Walk slowly, walk slowly,” said the church assistant, gesturing that I should take my time.
I guess I was in a hurry. I so wanted to be with the man whom I have loved since I was a skinny 22-year-old grad student. The man who had given me my first kiss, the one who could listen to my rambling stories for hours, the one who prayed for and with me. In my heart, God told me it was the perfect time, the right time.
Till I Met You, a 1980’s song by Odette Quesada was being sung with violin accompaniment:
I never dream
‘Cause I always thought that dreaming was for kids
Just a childish thing
And I could swear
Love was just a game that children play
And no more than a game
Till I met you
I never knew what love was
Till I met you
This feeling seems to grow more every day
I love you more each dayI believe you
I believe in every word when you say
‘I love you all the way’
Now I can swear
Love is not a game that children play
So tell me that you’ll stayTill I met you
I never knew what love was
Till I met you
This feeling seems to grow more every day
I love you more each day…
The wedding party that followed at Casablanca Private Resort was all that Jonathan and I had hoped it would be: good food, great weather, a perfect view of Taal Volcano, family and friends. Many flew in from the United States, Hong Kong, and Singapore: all of my mother’s siblings, his parents and aunts, his boss, and his high school buddies. It was a wonderful reunion, a big thanksgiving. We never grow tired of watching the video.
As I write this, I’m waiting for Mr. Guinto to finish watching the news and go online for our virtual anniversary date. I’ve put on a little makeup and a nice new dress from my mom. The cake is resting in the refrigerator.
Yes, we may have been apart for most of these past three years but our hearts could never be as close. Each morning I wake up thanking God I have a good husband. Each day I pray to be a good wife. Each pause in our conversations, we’re silently wishing we didn’t have so many miles between us. Each “I love you,” says we long to be together again soon.
Today, more than ever, I miss the gold and silver band that said I’m “Certifiably Jonathan’s.” The ring that I had carefully picked out and had never taken off after our wedding day, but which I flushed down the toilet one hot summer night last year. I hope to have it duplicated some time soon. Then again, I don’t really need a piece of metal to know I am his.
Today, we’ll be looking at our wedding pictures, dreaming of our third honeymoon, and praying for a lifetime of love and happiness.
Photo by Micheile Henderson on Unsplash
by rossanahead | Feb 19, 2012 | career, children, Education, family, parenting, woman
By Maridol Rañoa-Bismark
What do you do when you have to rush to work in the morning, beat deadlines in the afternoon, and get home ready to drop at night? Certainly not end the day without checking on your child whether he’s a tyke, a teenager, or a college-age young man like mine.
Sharon Cuneta’s commercial about coming home at night and checking on her sleeping children still strikes a chord in my heart, even if it’s been off the air for quite some time. It’s not that I harbor any illusions of being a Megastar; certainly not. It’s just that it paints the perfect picture of my life these days, so crazy that I can’t even catch my son while he’s awake.
How do I squelch the guilty feelings threatening to kill me with visions of a youth gone wild? By driving my son wherever he needs to be, that’s how.
In the mornings, I drive him to school. On weekends, I repeat the ritual when he has to go to a debate tournament or a required school event.
Trapped in the confines of my trusty vehicle, I strike up a conversation with my son. The poor guy—even if he’s about to nod off to sleep—responds. Never mind if it’s a vague “It’s OK” to my question about how the school fair went. That’s enough for a mom like me who’s anxious to connect with her son.
When I’m lucky, my son’s sentences are longer; his replies more colorful. He lets me into his world—a world where an older cross-enrollee acts like a know-it-all, making everyone snicker, and where teacher jokes rule. I feel like I’m part of a secret society where sorrow and laughter are shared. For a while, looming deadlines recede and the pressure of having to deal with rushed ideas fade. I am in a faraway land with my son—a land where life is simpler and I don’t have to deliver numbers to survive. It’s a breather in my hectic pace, a good rev-up for a brand-new work day.
Now you know why I won’t give up those morning drives for anything in the world except, perhaps, for a big breaking story. Our moments of bonding moments make me more human in the dog-eat-dog world I step into every working day. I remember what life is all about: feeling, sharing, being human.
Thank you, Ben, for making your harassed mom less of a monster and more of a human being through the years.
Featured Photo Courtesy of Cars Website
by rossanahead | Jan 31, 2012 | career, children, Education, family, parenting, technology
By Maridol Bismark
How does someone born at a time when computers were still unheard of survive in this techy world? Bombard your child with questions, that’s how.
I work for an online entertainment portal. Every day, I am exposed to words and phrases that are just starting to make sense to me: URL, landing page, sites, chatting, etc. I even get my pay through a system that at first, I couldn’t make heads or tails of: sending a vendor summary form through the magic of Excel.
So I holler at my son, not once, but many times over, and ask him to take a look-see, fast! He looks up reluctantly from his books, rolls his eyes, and does as he is told. It helps that he’s still in school and relies on me for his tuition and daily allowance. In other words, he has no choice. LOL (That’s laugh out loud!)
“Mom, just check what you see on the screen!” He tells me, half-pleading, half-incredulous.
I point to the button that says, “Do not click this Web site.” He clicks it while I watch with bated breath. Voila! The screen starts to respond!
Next, I point to YM (Yahoo messenger) and wail that I can’t see my previous messages. He clicks on the “show recent messages” part and everything appears right before my eyes. I could have kissed his hands right then and there except that he’ll find it corny and laugh his head off.
Why, I can’t even get my pay if not for his know-how of Excel!
Ah, the joys and pay-offs of motherhood!
I hear the same story over and over again from classmates caught in the same situation. This doesn’t only apply to computers but to cellphones as well.
My editor sends me a text: “What’s the model of your cellphone?”
I text back: “Let me ask my son when he comes home from school.”
She replies, “I do that, too!”
I look at my son straight in the eye and say, “What will I do without you?”
I feel like a child lost in a newfangled world, groping for a hand to guide me. Fortunately, the hand belongs to the boy who appreciates everything that I’ve done and will still do for him.
So let the new jargon come, full blast. I will not be afraid. I have my son’s hand to hold when the going gets tough.
Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash
